Hauling heavy loads in frigid sub-zero temperatures would make most of us want to pack it in. But for hardy huskies it was all in a day’s work. In the December 1942 issue of The Beaver, readers were given a glimpse of the lives of the intrepid working dogs that for centuries were used as a key mode of transportation in the North.
“Dogs of the Arctic,” written by an unnamed magazine staffer, praised the ferocious-looking and intensely loyal husky dogs as the “unsung heroes of the Arctic.”
The article went on to explain how a husky pup is selected for service at about the age of three months. “Within a year … he is full grown and powerful, and is capable of hauling his full share of the load, or as much as 500 pounds,” the article said.
Husky teams operated under a hierarchical system, with a “boss dog” ruling the pack by “his prowess as a fighter, as well as his seniority.”